Golden Haze
by SomeAreLakes
Summary: Brittany's a waitress with a son, Santana's leading a successful life with no one to share it with. They parted years ago and on a cold October night, when they both weren't expecting it, they happen to meet again.
1. Chapter 1

**Well, hello there! Don't you all look gorgeous!**

**It's my first Brittana fic and I must admit I'm rather excited about the whole thing! I might even go as far as squeal a bit! (Maybe. Ok, I totally will.)**

**I used to write Naomily stuff because let's face it, pure awesomeness, but lately, with the Brittana break-up and the creepy eye contact with the creepiest lesbian in Louisville Glee has been putting us through, I've been feeling like Brittana needs me much more than Naomily at the moment. (As we all know, Naomily's probably having sex on every beach in India as we speak. I think they're good). So yeah, I thought I would add my small contribution to the other great fics already out there!**

**For those of you who were maybe reading my Naomily fic, don't worry. They're still my babies.**

**Ok, I think this note has gone way out of hands. Shall we?**

Brittany runs a soothing hand through her son's short blond hair, softly kissing his temple. She hates when she has to leave him for a night shift. It's not like she's not going to see him in the morning- she always tries to come back before he wakes up- but still, he's been having nightmares lately and Brittany knows how scared they used to make her when she was little. She smiles when he mumbles in his sleep, gently closing his bedroom's door before she makes her way to her apartment's tiny living room.

Ms. Bennett is sitting on the old, green couch, knitting peacefully. She looks up when Brittany comes in, putting on her coat in a hurry as she curses under her breath, wondering like always where she can lose her goddamn purse in such a small place.

"It's on the kitchen counter dear", Ms. Bennett mutters, British accent still tainting everything she says even after forty years spent in Ohio, "And I think I saw your gloves in the bathroom."

"Thank you Ms. B." Brittany replies with a grateful smile, quickly zipping up her coat before she grabs her gloves, indeed founding them in the bathroom. She puts on an old black beanie, messily tucking some strands of her hair inside it before she takes her purse, checking if she has everything she needs. "Shit, I'm so late. Ok Ms. B, I'm off now. If Oliver has nightmares again, just give him-"

"-warm milk with a tad of honey. I know dear", the old woman completes with an amused grin, looking at Brittany over her glasses, "Now go, I wouldn't want you to miss your bus." She adds with a move of her hand towards the front door, prompting the blonde to just leave already.

Brittany chuckles, hand on the doorknob. "Call me if anything goes wrong. And, thanks a lot. For everything."

"You're welcome dear."

Brittany quickly goes down the three flights of stairs leading to the front door of her building, absentmindedly noticing how the Colombian couple living on the second floor is apparently fighting _again_ and how someone has left a pile of garbage near a door on the first floor, a bad odor consequently floating in the air.

She scrunches up her nose, glad when she finally gets to the front door. She pushes hard with her shoulder while simultaneously giving a strategically placed kick of her foot, knowing too well how that door has been broken for the past year, the owner of the building refusing to do anything about it despite the countless times Brittany complained about it.

Finally, the door opens wide enough to let Brittany out, the crisp October air hitting her face as she breathes in deeply. She starts to make her way towards the bus stop a couple of blocks away from her own building, putting on her gloves in the process.

The air is cold and as Brittany walks the now familiar path, she focuses on the city noises instead of on how she has started to shiver a bit, her old coat way too thin for the cold weather that has been settling in for the past couple of weeks.

She had to buy a new microwave, the old one that she brought with her from Lima all those years ago having pretty much exploded in her face as she was making macaronis and therefore, some things like a new coat would just have to wait until next year.

The bus stop comes into view, Brittany grinning to herself when she realizes that she's, after all, on time.

The guy waiting next to her keeps looking at her and Brittany keeps looking at her feet, knowing that when you live in one of Cleveland's poorest neighborhood, you don't make useless eye contacts. With anyone.

The guy clears his throat, taking a small step in her direction.

"Can I buy you a cigarette?"

She shakes her head, subtly securing the purse on her shoulder. "I don't smoke. Sorry." She can't help but add the last word, her big heart seemingly always winning in the end.

He shrugs, spitting on the ground.

To her relief, she sees the white and blue bus making its way towards them, black smoke swirling out of the rooftop as it comes to a halt in front of them.

Brittany steps inside, grateful for the warmth engulfing her as she greets the driver with a smile.

Even though it's just a regular Wednesday night, the bus is crowded and Brittany finds a place between a man with the biggest belly she's ever seen and a woman talking animatedly on the phone, squeezing herself between the two.

She has gotten used to public transportations since she arrived in Cleveland, having no choice to use them since there's no way she could ever afford to buy a car. It's fine though. She has always liked people watching anyway.

Brittany pulls her old iPod out of her purse, aware that's it's far from being the newest model in stores, plugging in her bright pink earplugs and just like that, she's in her own little world.

Twenty minutes later, she steps out of the bus, completely amazed by the fact that in such a small amount of time, she arrived in a completely different part of Cleveland. The part where her apartment could fit in at least twenty times in the huge mansions now surrounding her.

Brittany sighs faintly, pulling a small piece of paper out of her pocket where she scribbled the address her boss gave her at the beginning of the week.

Another gust of wind makes its way inside her coat and she's grateful when she sees that the house she's looking for is actually not far. She doesn't even have to look at the numbers on the front doors; she can already guess by the couple of limos and all different kinds of sport cars parked in front of the house that it's the one.

Brittany is a bit self-conscious when she makes her way towards it, awkwardly walking next to a very well-dressed couple, obviously guests to the party, the woman checking out her outfit with a look of pure disdain.

Fortunately for her, they part at some point, the couple continuing towards the impressive wooden front door where a man wearing a black bowtie is waiting for them, Brittany circling around the house in order to get in from the back door, like her boss told her to.

As soon as she sets foot inside the house, the back door opening directly in a vast kitchen, someone grabs her arm, tugging her towards a small door before shoving a pile of clothes in her arm.

"What the-"

"Fuck Britt, I thought you had bailed on us or something." Juliet mumbles rapidly, staring at Brittany with furious eyes.

"Sorry, I took the bus a bit late and-"

"I don't care, what matters is that you're here now," she interrupts her again, shaking her head. Juliet is usually the one supervising when their boss is not around and even though she can be a bit intense, she's the closest thing Brittany has to a friend in Cleveland, "now please, go get changed and then we're immediately going to start serving the champagne."

Brittany nods, pulling her hair up in a ponytail. "It's fine, I changed back home. Just show me a place where I can drop my purse and I'm ready to start."

Juliet brings her to a corner where all the other waiters and waitresses have already dropped their coats and bags in a heap, Brittany putting her things on top of the others.

"Put on your name tag and let's go."

Brittany clips the golden name tag on her white shirt before smoothing out her black pants, rearranging the trademark black tie all of the waitresses of _La Vie en Rose_, the restaurant she works for, are obligated to wear at all time. She thinks it kinda makes her look ridiculous but she can't really argue; money has got to come from somewhere. Plus, Juliet is practically glaring at her at this point.

"Come on Britt, go, go, go."

She points to a tray full of half filled champagne glasses, Brittany expertly grabbing it, carefully putting it on top of her right hand.

Before she goes, Juliet motions to the double doors presumably leading to where the guests are, "Just so you know, it's a cocktail thrown by one of the biggest lawyer firm of the country to celebrate the potential opening of a new office in Cleveland or something equally fascinating." She rolls her eyes. "Anyway, you'll be covering the living room. Just make sure that when your tray is empty, you come back to the kitchen to get another one. There are at least a hundred guests tonight, we need to be as efficient as we can be."

Brittany bites her bottom lip. As many catering job as she did in the past, she always gets a bit nervous knowing how clumsy she can be. "Understood."

Juliet smiles tightly, already turning around in the unbelievably busy kitchen to talk to other employees.

Brittany sighs again, putting on her best fake smile as she gets out of the kitchen, tray of champagne still in hand.

Immediately, she notices how richly decorated the house is. Beautiful dark wood floors, satin covered couches and silky, floral curtains are one of the few things that catch her attention before a couple of guests start to grab glasses from her tray.

She smiles even though most of them don't even bother to look at her, let alone say thank you.

The next thing that Brittany notices as she discreetly makes her way between the many groups of guests, all deep in conversation, is how posh everyone looks.

There is not one woman that isn't wearing what looks like an expensive diamond necklace or pearl earrings and practically all the men are sporting obviously tailored suits and tuxedos.

As usual, this all makes her feel uncomfortable; her fifteen dollars polyester shirt seems so out of place here.

It's not long until her tray is empty and she quickly makes her way back to the kitchen, bumping into other waitresses on her way in. The kitchen is filled with employees from the restaurant, all making sure that the night goes as planned. The atmosphere is warm with all the ovens working at once and Brittany feels beads of sweat forming on her forehead as she gets a new tray full of odd looking appetizers, actually eager to get back to the living room where at least some air is circulating.

The rest of the night goes by rather uneventfully, Brittany growing more and more tired as more guests seem to arrive. Even though it doesn't look like it, being a waitress can be an exhausting job and Brittany can feel the muscles of her right arm growing sore as she carries yet another tray of appetizers.

It's nearly midnight, the guests not showing any signs of leaving soon and Brittany wishes more than ever she could be at home with Oliver.

She goes back to the kitchen with another empty tray, cracking her neck before rubbing her tired blue eyes.

"Britt, as I was saying to the others, we're going to start passing the desserts and after we're done with that and with the cleaning, we'll most likely be all able to leave." Juliet informs her, pointing to trays now filled with individual chocolate mousses.

"Ok, perfect." Brittany nods, feeling a bit more enthusiastic now that she knows she might be leaving soon.

The guests seem to be really enjoying the dessert, some of them even going as far as complimenting Brittany even though she honestly has nothing to do with it. She smiles nonetheless, tiredness making her thoughts a bit blurry. She has been working almost seventy hours this week and she badly needs some rest.

A couple of mousses are left in her tray and so she starts to make her way towards a group of people talking in the far corner of the living room.

Just as she reaches them, Brittany stops dead in her tracks, a couple of feet away from the group.

A woman facing away from her seems to be leading the discussion, hands motioning wildly in the air as people surrounding her seem to be listening to whatever she's saying.

Brittany feels a flutter in her chest as she runs her eyes over the familiar curve of the woman's back, willing her exhausted mind to stop imagining things.

_It's not her. It's not her. Now breathe._

Santana takes a sip of her now lukewarm champagne, half listening to one of her colleagues' wife babbling about her supposedly amazing hot yoga class. It's not that Claire isn't a sweet woman or anything. It's just that after five years spent in that incredibly snob and uptight environment, Santana feels a bit suffocated. As one of the two women working as associates in her lawyer firm, she has grown tired of those women only spending away their husbands' money in pointless pedicures and spa retreats in California or whatnot.

She's aware this makes her sound like a total bitch but she doesn't really care. She has never hidden the fact that she's proud of what she has accomplished through the years- working her way to the top hasn't been easy but in the end, Santana made it.

But for tonight, she has to put on her professional face and endure this awfully boring cocktail.

She nods randomly, hoping it somehow fits in the course of what Claire is saying, absentmindedly wondering if the desserts are about to come soon so she can eventually get the hell out of here and go back to her hotel room.

"Lopez, come over here." A gruff man's voice shouts from behind Santana's back, Claire frowning when she realizes the focus is not on her anymore.

Santana's actually grateful for the distraction and with a tight smile to the circle of married women she had been caught into since she arrived earlier, she makes her way towards a smaller group of men, all fellow associates from her firm back in New York.

"What the fuck do you want Peterson?" She asks with a scowl, quickly finishing her champagne before dropping it on some random waitress's tray.

"First, I want to tell you that you look damn fine in that dress." Peterson replies with a smirk, Santana not missing the way he exchanges suggestive eye contacts with some of the men there.

It's been like that since Santana started working as a lawyer; her male colleagues have never really taken her seriously even though she does a much better job than all of those assholes combined.

Sure, she can't really deny that she's good looking but since high school, she has toned down her sexy outfits and provocative skirts. She realized the hard way that this wouldn't get her the credibility she had desperately been seeking when she got out of university. And even though she has managed to acquire this credibility since then, her colleagues still seem to believe she's just a nice ass.

Santana hates it.

She narrows her eyes, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Is there anything else you wanted to say?"

Peterson shrugs, Santana noticing with disgust that he has a small mustard stain on his light blue shirt.

"No, just that you look hot Lopez."

Santana takes a deep breath. That's another thing she has toned down since her early years at McKinley High- her temper.

"What do you think of Cleveland so far in terms of potential clients?" She asks instead, smoothing down the front of her simple black dress. She doesn't really know how this makes her look apparently _so_ hot. Hell, she's not even wearing heels.

The change of topic seems to work and not two minutes later, they're all deep in conversation, Santana surprised that she has everyone's attention as she exposes her own ideas of how their Cleveland firm could actually make a lot of benefits.

She makes a lot of hands gestures, a habit she has developed back in college whenever she had to expose her opinions to a group of people, "I've actually managed to get in touch with a guy that works in one of Cleveland's most important firm and he told me that-"

"Awesome, chocolate mousses!"

She frowns at being interrupted, Peterson completely ignoring her as he stares at something over her shoulder.

Santana sighs impatiently, turning around to see what all that fuss is about.

And that's when she suddenly feels like the room just got so much smaller, when all she can see is that very specific shade of blue she hasn't seen in years.

Brittany's there.

Brittany S. Pierce and all the memories she carries with her.

Standing right in front of her and looking probably as shocked as she does right now.

Santana swallows, letting out a shaky breath. "Brittany..." She barely hears herself whisper but she knows Brittany has when the blonde instantly drops her gaze to the floor.

Santana's eyes quickly scan the woman in front of her, noticing how much more mature she looks and she still can't quite grasp what's happening. A boring cocktail in Cleveland is the last place she'd ever think of meeting Brittany again.

"Hum, Earth to Blondie?" Brittany hears the same man say, earning himself a couple of laughs from the other men gathered around. "I think we'd all like some of those mousses, if you wouldn't mind serving us."

She blushes a deep shade of red, shaking her head.

Santana is right here and it feels so surreal that she had completely forgotten how she was standing in the middle of a crowded living room, precariously holding a tray full of chocolate mousses.

She clears her throat, willing herself to focus. "Oh, uh, sure. I'm very sorry sir, may I offer you one?"

The man who talked to her nods, grabbing a dessert from her tray.

She can feel Santana's big brown eyes still on her, making her feel unbelievably self-conscious when she realizes she's wearing her waitress uniform. She feels her ears burning as she quickly passes her tray around, not even bothering to offer it to Santana before she turns around, heading towards the kitchen.

When she gets there, she's relieved to see it's less busy than before and she lets herself lean on the wall near the doors, closing her eyes.

She hadn't noticed yet how fast her heart was beating.

She allows her mind to wander for a second to the way Santana looked- still gorgeous but with something definitely different that she can't quite pinpoint. She wonders what Santana's life is like now. What she's doing. Where she lives. These are things she has tried not to dwell on over the past seven years but right now, those unanswered questions come flooding her mind all at the same time.

After a few moments, Brittany takes a deep breath, opening her eyes.

All of this doesn't matter anyway. It's not like she's going to see Santana again. This was just an isolated coincidence in the course of both of their lives. For now, she has a five years old boy waiting for her at home and it's getting pretty late.

Brittany pushes herself off the wall, noticing Juliet coming towards her with a small smile.

"B, we're done here. You can go home."

Brittany grins back. "Awesome."

"Are you ok? You look a bit... pale."

She shrugs, dismissing Juliet's concern with a wave of her hand. "I'm just tired. Nothing a good night of sleep won't solve." Thing is, with all the thoughts still plaguing her mind, she's pretty sure she's not going to get much sleep tonight.

Juliet's not having any of it though. "You're overworking yourself. You should really take a few days off, relax a bit."

"You and I both know I can't afford a few days off." The blonde replies with a small sigh whilst putting on her coat, trying to look cheerful. Brittany has always hated dumping her problems on other people- she prefers dealing with them alone and keep a positive attitude in front of others.

"Yeah well, think about it." Juliet says, quickly hugging her. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Ok, see you tomorrow!"

She's left alone in the now almost empty kitchen, letting her hair loose from the tight ponytail she has been sporting for the whole night before putting her beanie back on.

Santana used to love when she was wearing a beanie.

Brittany frowns, willing her brain to not go there. Those memories are better left in that box at the back of her mind.

Grabbing her purse, she heads towards the back door, instantly shivering when she realizes a light, cold rain has now started falling. Of course, she doesn't have an umbrella with her.

She quickly walks down the house's alley, zipping her coat as high as she can even though she knows it's kind of pointless to do so. Water is already starting to seep though her cheap shoes anyway.

"Brittany!"

The blonde stops dead in her tracks, heart skipping a beat.

_Please don't talk to me. _

"Brittany, wait."

She bites her bottom lip, knowing it's too late when Santana arrives in front of her, holding a huge black umbrella.

She's wearing a beautiful blue coat, designer handbag resting in the crook of her elbow and Brittany instantly feels ashamed of her own brown purse, far too aware of the strap that has been broken for months.

"I'm in Cleveland for a month to make sure that the firm I work for would benefit from opening an office here. We're not really sure if the market corresponds to what we specialize in, which is civil rights and well, I'm the one they're sending to assess if it is..."

Brittany blinks, not quite certain why Santana's telling her all that, at one in the morning, in the rain, when they haven't spoken to each other in years. The only thing she knows, and she only does because all those years apparently haven't changed how well she can read the brunette even when she's not trying, is that Santana's nervous. She can tell from the way the other girl is playing with the silver bracelet on her wrist.

She blinks again, realizing Santana's still talking. "So yeah, I was thinking that we could maybe... I don't know... catch up?" The brunette trails off, gaze dropping to the ground.

Brittany doesn't really know what to say. Her heart has started beating weird again and she wonders why Santana would even want them to catch up.

"You don't have to, obviously. I was merely suggesting..." Santana says awkwardly after a moment, fishing for something in her coat's pocket, "Anyway, this is my phone number... If you ever, you know..."

Still, Brittany doesn't react, her mind confused with how much she actually wants to grab the small piece of paper. She has never been good at dealing with conflicting emotions.

"Please, just... take it..." Santana whispers, practically pushing the paper into Brittany's cold hand.

Her hand is warm and Brittany feels small tingles in her fingers, tingles that feel all too familiar.

"Good night Brittany." Santana says, still not meeting her eyes as she turns around, quickly making her way towards a black BMW parked in front of the house.

Small droplets of rain are rolling down her face as she clutches the paper tighter in her hand. It's only when she watches the car disappear from her sight that she feels like she can properly breathe again.

"Good night."

**Oh man. The anxiousness that comes with the first chapter of a new fic. It makes me want to eat ice cream directly from the tub. Yes, I do tend to eat my emotions. Shut up.**

**I hope you guys liked it or are at least a tad intrigued! You'll get more of their background story in the next chapters, have no fear.**

**Until then, keep on being awesome. Seriously. You're making everyone around you jealous. Mwa.**


	2. Chapter 2

**You want to know what I'm hiding behind my back? Ok then. Flowers. And heart shaped cookies. For all of you. Because I've been overwhelmed (overwhelmed!) by your amazingly generous reviews and it's my way of thanking you. So please, don't be shy, grab one!******

**Ok so this chapter my darlings features a flashback. You know, when a fight keeps getting bigger and bigger and in the end, you end up saying things you don't even really mean? Well, it's about that. Brace your fragile hearts, it's on the angsty side.**

"Mommy, Gordon invited me to his birthday party! Do you think I could go?"

Brittany playfully rolls her eyes at her son's insistence, tightening the hold she has on his small hand, quickly checking left than right as they cross the street.

"Please, mommy, please?"

She makes a bit of arithmetic in her head, coming to the conclusion that her month's budget can surely be squeezed a bit for her to buy Gordon- Oliver's best friend- a nice gift. "Of course honey, you can go."

Oliver jumps a little, a big grin now plastered on his face.

"It's gonna be so much fun!"

Brittany smiles as her son starts talking about all the candies he's going to have, thinking to herself that the big purple bag full of dirty clothes she has been carrying for the past fifteen minutes seems to be getting heavier with each passing week. Or maybe she's just getting older.

Oliver's already starting to show signs of tiredness, dragging his feet on the damp sidewalk, and Brittany's glad when the Laundromat finally comes into view.

"Come on big baby, we're here!"

He huffs, pushing his glasses further up his nose. "I'm not a baby, mommy."

She drops a kiss on the top of his head, opening the door for the blonde little boy before following him inside.

"I know, I know. You're growing way too fast for my liking."

It's a Friday night and as she expected it, the place is not overly crowded as it can sometimes be. A girl with blue hair and big earphones is sitting on a washing machine, reading a book, whilst a man is folding his own clothes three machines away. It's quiet and Brittany's grateful it is; she has had an exhausting week.

She drops her bag on one of the orange plastic chairs in the middle of the room, taking Oliver's coat off and then her own. Her hair's up in a messy ponytail, a pair of old skinny jeans and a baggy black t-shirt completing what Juliet likes to call her "casual single mom" look. She doesn't really know if her friend means that as a compliment but she sighs as she catches her reflection in one of the windows, aware that casual or not, the dark circles under her eyes can't really be missed.

"Mommy, did you bring my crayons?"

She turns towards her son, nodding with a small smile. "Of course I did, who do you take me for?"

He giggles and like always, she feels like hugging him and peppering his face with kisses. Opening her purse, she pulls out a few crayons and a coloring book, handing them to Oliver who's already sitting cross-legged on a plastic chair. "There you go sweetie."

"Do you want me to draw something for you?"

Brittany taps her chin with her finger, acting as if she's deep in thoughts. "Humm... I don't know... A unicorn maybe?"

"Ok, I will! Unicorns are so pretty." He mumbles, grabbing the yellow crayon.

Now that Oliver's settled, Brittany grabs the bag of clothes and her soap, heading towards the nearest machine.

She has a day off tomorrow and she would like to do something special for her son; maybe she'll get him a new Transformer or that ice cream with sparkles he loves so much. The only thing she wants to do is make him feel like she hasn't forgotten him- she knows she has been away working for most of the last weeks and even though she feels like her son understands much more than he lets on about their precarious situation, she doesn't want him to get the feeling he's not like the other kids. He deserves to be one.

"Mommy, do you think unicorns have purple or blue tails?"

Brittany chuckles to herself, remembering how she used to love unicorns when she was his age. And, well, maybe in high school as well. "They're definitely blue Oli."

"Good. I thought so too."

She hums in approval, watching the cars pass by outside as she absentmindedly make sure there aren't anything left in the pants' pockets, throwing them in the machine afterwards. Her fingers close around a crumpled piece of paper and she nearly tosses it aside before realizing that something is scribbled on it.

The handwriting her eyes land on brings her back to countless nights spent studying, sharing secret kisses and touches and just like that, something deeps within her stomach flutters a bit.

Staring at the phone number Santana gave her a few days ago she bites her bottom lip, wondering if the other woman is really expecting for her to call.

Brittany keeps the paper in her hand as she starts the machine, walking back towards her son to sit next to him before taking the magazine she has brought, knowing perfectly well that she's not going to read any of it.

She stares at the paper, finger tracing the name she has both loved as well as hated along the years- love has tended to win much more often though, if she's honest with herself.

She throws it to the floor after a few moments, perfectly aware she's not ready to allow Santana back into her life now when they parted years ago in such a painfully definitive way.

_Brittany lets her hair down, frowning to her reflection in her bedroom's mirror. _

"_They looked good the fifty first times Britt. Just saying." Tina chips in from where she's sitting on the floor, carefully painting her toe nails. "Let them lose, I always say how good it looks on you."_

_The blonde gives an uncertain look to Tina over her shoulder, "You think so?"_

_Tina nods, smiling mischievously."Yup. And I know Santana does too."_

_Brittany hates herself for blushing. Because even though she has made sure the rest of the world thinks she has moved on, Tina knows best. Since the Asian girl found her crying alone in the choir room nine months ago, the two of them have grown closer._

"_It's not like that..." Brittany trails off, knowing any attempts at denying what she was doing is actually futile. "Everyone's going to be reunited then?" She asks after a pause, desperately wanting to change the subject._

_Tina plays along, fortunately. "Apart from Sam. He's visiting his grandparents or something. That's what Artie told me anyway."_

_The blonde grins, finally deciding on wearing her hair down. She succeeds in making herself believe it has nothing to do with the fact that Santana is supposed to be there tonight as well. "Awesome! We're all going to be a big family again."_

"_Can you believe that Quinn is going to study in England though? Christ, the farthest I've been to is New York."_

_Brittany shrugs, scooping up Lord Tubbington in her arms as she sits on her bed. "I can believe it. I always knew Quinn would shine as bright as a star. In Lima or somewhere else."_

_The other girl narrows her eyes, not still quite used to Brittany's particular way of thinking. "We should get going B."_

_She nuzzles her cat's fur, letting him go with a smile._ _"Ok, good. Let's go."_

_They park outside Quinn's parents' house fifteen minutes later, Brittany's heart definitely beating faster than usual._

_She hasn't seen Santana since the brunette sang to her, telling her they should do the mature thing. She knows Santana has been to Lima several times after that, mostly visiting her parents for important holidays but she has never dared to call her._

_She was so mad at Santana for a while. So mad that the girl she had been so faithfully in love with since the beginning of high school had decided to leave her behind._

_Ironically- or is it really, Brittany's not sure- she has been missing Santana. A lot. She never thought you could miss so many little things about a single person and not want to spontaneously combust with the longing and sadness she feels herself overflowed with._

_She doesn't know how to deal with all of that- she has been feeling so lost since last September, it's a wonder she managed to finally graduate at all._

_She's pulled out of her thoughts by Tina tapping on her shoulder, looking concerned. "Brittany, are you ok?"_

_Brittany shakes her head, forcing herself to smile widely. "I am. Now let's get this night started."_

_They grab the cupcakes they made together in the afternoon, their contribution to Quinn's going-away party._

_As they make their way towards the front door, Brittany takes a side look at Tina's cupcakes with a hint of pity, comparing the other girl's boring ones with her sparkly and colorful own._

_When they arrive in front of the door, the blonde finds herself back to that place where her heart beats fast and her hands get all clammy and she tries to take a deep breath, quickly smoothing down her cute blue sundress, willing herself to believe that she can do this._

_She can face Santana and pretend she's doing great without her._

_When she focuses back, she hasn't realized Tina has already ringed the bell and when the door opens, she's immediately engulfed in a hug, the person responsible for it letting out a tiny scream._

"_Brittany, it's so wonderful to see you again!"_

_She smiles, hugging Rachel back even though the plate of cupcakes she's still holding is making it a bit awkward._

"_It's good to see you too Rachel." The smaller girl steps away and Brittany's eyes widen when she sees how different Rachel looks from when she was at McKinley. "Wow, you look great! I totally dig that skirt."_

_Rachel looks away, playing modest. "Well, thank you. I have to admit that Manhattan's delightful frenzy has almost forced me to adopt a new style in order to fit in with all the-"_

"_Oh, shut up for two minutes will you." A voice says behind Rachel, Quinn emerging from inside the house with a smirk. The brunette crosses her arms with a pout, mumbling something about freedom of expression._

_Brittany grins even wider when the girl she has considered one of her best friends for years drops two kisses on her cheeks, smiling as bright as she is._

"_I'm so glad you could make it."_

"_I live just around the corner, silly. Of course I was going to make it."_

_Quinn takes the plate of cupcakes from her hands, motioning for Tina and her to get inside. "Regardless, I'm still happy."_

"_So, England, uh?" Tina asks, following Rachel and Quinn in the kitchen as Brittany stays behind, hearing voices coming from the living room._

_She wonders if Santana has already arrived._

_The first people she meets are Mike, Mercedes and Artie, all talking animatedly about the twins Mr. Schuester and Emma are due to have in three months._

"_Brittany, my girl!" Artie shouts, pumping his fist in the air. She giggles because really, who does Artie thinks he's fooling with all his ghetto talk, she'll never know._

_She hugs the three of them, even though she has kept in touch with Mike and Mercedes since they've left Lima and, well, Artie never even left in the first place._

_They settle back easily into their usual banter, Mike enthusiastically talking to Brittany about the dance program he's attending._

_It's not after another ten minutes that the doorbell rings again, immediately followed by a howl._

"_The Puckasaurus is here bitches!"_

_When Puck appears in the living room, Mohawk shaved and smiling like a mad man, Brittany chuckles; she never thought she could have actually missed the boy she spent so many nights secretly hating for taking Santana away from her._

_He high fives with the boys before his attention turns towards Brittany with a toothy grin. "And here's the craziest chick I know. Come here!"_

_Brittany rolls her eyes with a smile, squealing when Puck unexpectedly lifts her up in the air before twirling her around the room._

"_Puck, what are you doing?", she asks through a fit of giggles, gripping his shoulders. The room is spinning and Brittany closes her eyes, conscious of everybody's laughter surrounding them. When she opens them again, she meets brown ones, heart instantly leaping to her throat. Santana's there, staring at her from the living room's doorway and she knows the sudden dizziness she's experiencing is not only from the spinning, "Puck, let me down."_

_Puck must sense the change of tone because he immediately does, Brittany glad that Mercedes has noticed Santana, everyone gathering around the brunette to greet her. _

_The blonde gets out of the living room, pretending she has something to check in the kitchen._

_The night goes by pretty smoothly after that, Brittany's eyes meeting Santana's from across the room from time to time._

_Quinn makes a small speech about how she's happy they're all reunited before she leaves for England. They all shed a few tears when Quinn announces that for now, she only bought a one-way ticket but she reassures them when she mentions she'll try to come back for at least Christmas._

_Brittany's drinking much more than she should and by the end of the night, she's loudly singing with Blaine and Rachel, ignoring for a moment how Santana keeps staring at her and how it makes the breath catch in her throat._

_An hour later, everyone has fallen asleep, scattered all around the living room._

_Brittany, on the other hand, can't seem to be able to fall into a blissful oblivion like her friends did._

_Too many thoughts are flying in her head and as hard as she tries to concentrate, to think of something else, they all bring her back to that one thing. _

_Santana._

_The brunette is currently sleeping on a couch right in front of Brittany, curled up in a way that makes the blonde want to scoop her up in her arms, bring her into a proper bed and cuddle like they used to- Brittany the big spoon, burying her face into the other girl's hair and Santana the small one, intertwining their fingers across her stomach._

_The memories are so vivid and they make her so hopeless that Brittany has to take her umpteenth deep breath of the night, carefully moving Quinn's head away from her shoulder as she gets up from the couch she was sitting on._

_She wanders aimlessly in the dark house for a bit, loving how the moon keeps unexpectedly seeping through the closed curtains. _

_That's how she usually deals with things- she has to move, do something with her body. And right now, she can't really dance so she settles for the next best thing: walking._

_Brittany makes her way upstairs, careful to avoid the beer bottles on the floor and wondering why things got so complicated. She just wants her Santana back. She wants _them_ back._

_She enters the bathroom, blinking a bit when she turns the lights on._

_Splashing water on her face makes her feel calmer and she blindly grabs a towel, not really caring about her make-up at the moment._

_Brittany hears the door click shut behind her and she quickly turns around, heart fluttering when she finds Santana standing a few feet away from her, concern and questions written all over her face._

"_Hi."_

_Brittany swallows, immediately immersed by the heavy tension lingering between Santana and her. It feels like the bathroom has just shrunk to the size of a shoebox._

"_Hi."_

_They stay in silence after that, Santana nervously playing with the bracelet on her wrist, Brittany staring at her own feet._

"_How have you been?"_

_Brittany doesn't answer, choosing instead to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, gaze stubbornly fixed on her shoes._

"_Why can't you look at me, Britt?" Santana's voice is small, vulnerable in a way Brittany has never heard before. _

_She looks up, unable to resist this pull Santana always had on her._

"_I don't know San...", she whispers, frowning, "I've just been missing you so much and now... now, everything hurts and it makes me so confused." She didn't intend to mention how much she was missing her as her first words to Santana in nine months but she guesses she's going to have to go with it now that's out in the open._

"_Why didn't you call me?"___

_"Why didn't you?"___

_Santana seems surprised to have the question thrown back at her in such a defensive tone. She thinks for a moment, running a hand through her hair "I-After that day in the choir room, when I told you about doing the mature thing..."___

_Brittany nods in encouragement, unconsciously taking a few steps towards the brunette. She wants so badly to get an explanation as to why Santana did what she did and she won't let go when she's about to get it, even if it's months later.___

_Santana bites her bottom lip, exhaling deeply. "I felt so ashamed Britt... For acting like that... I don't even know why I said all those things. And after having figured all my shit out, I didn't know if you'd still... want me back... That's why I didn't call."___

_Brittany feels like slapping Santana for thinking that she would ever not want her but that thought is quickly erased by the millions of butterflies that have been set free from the confines of her stomach.___

_It doesn't matter how mad Brittany had been or how much she had wanted to confront Santana because in that moment, the girl she loves is looking at her in such a way that she finally feels like herself for the first time in months._

"_I really, fucking missed you too Britt..."_

_They stare at each other for a little while, Brittany's eyes unconsciously drifting towards Santana's plump, red lips._

_And then, with almost perfect timing- as far as Brittany can remember, Santana and her have always been connected somehow- they both close the remaining space between them, lips meeting in a desperate kiss._

_It feels so blissfully good that the blonde has to shut her eyes tight, letting out a breath through her nose as Santana pushes her against the bathroom's counter._

_The brunette is kissing her forcefully, hands fiercely gripping at her hips as Brittany's hands instinctually move up to cup the back of Santana's neck._

"_I'm so sorry Britt..." Santana whispers against her lips and she barely understands the words, lost in a haze that has been missing from her life for too long now. "I'm so, so sorry..."_

_Brittany shakes her head, hungrily moving her lips to Santana's mouth watering neck. The skin there is soft and warm and God she feels like she's about to burst out._

_Santana moans when the blonde flips them around, lifting her up so that she's now sitting on the counter, legs wrapping around Brittany's waist._

"_Britt, let's forget what I said, ok? Let's pretend I never said anything...Oh, fuck..." Santana's raspy plea makes Brittany bite down on tan skin, quickly licking it away. She has no idea what she's doing- she only knows that she wants more._

"_I didn't mean what I said...Shit, yes, Britt...", she whimpers the last words out when the other girl nibbles at her earlobe, just the way she likes it, "let's forget everything, ok?"_

_Santana's trembling under her fingers and for the first time since they've started kissing, Brittany realizes that this wasn't what she had in mind. They were supposed to talk, to figure things out. _

_So she reluctantly steps away, tucking a strand of messy hair behind her ear, watching as Santana looks up, confused._

_Her cheeks are flushed, lips even redder than before and Brittany thinks to herself that no one could ever be as gorgeous as Santana Lopez, no matter how hard they'd try. In the blonde's opinion, Santana is always effortlessly beautiful._

"_Why did you stop?"_

_Brittany sighs. "We need to talk, San. You know I love our sweet lady kisses, you know I do, but right now, we need to talk."_

_The brunette frowns a bit. "Ok..."`_

_A heavy silence settles between them and before she can realize her mouth has even opened, Brittany blurts out the words that have been haunting her for months, "I hooked up with Sam." The words are raw, harsh, and Brittany wishes she could have find another way to let it all out. Then again, she has never really been good with words._

_Santana's eyes widen, mouth opening before she closes it. "W-what?"_

"_San, I-"_

"_Why would you do that? Why the fuck would you that?" The brunette voice is laced with barely contained jealousy and hurt as she hops off the counter, straightening her dress. "You had no right, Britt, no right to do that. And with fucking Trouty Mouth of all people. It's not fair."_

_Something snaps within Brittany when she hears Santana mention fairness._

"_Then what is fair Santana? Is leaving me behind, in Lima, by my own, fair?"_

"_It's not about that Britt. You fucking slept with Sam! How the hell am I supposed to react?" The brunette replies, crossing her arms in that way Brittany knows she uses when she wants to protect herself._

_The blonde shakes her head, disbelieving. "You broke up with me! You sang that song and then you told me that we were allowed to have energy exchanges or whatever and I didn't know what you meant and then you- you just left me there..."_

"_It was an unofficial break up, I thought I was doing the mature thing to do in our situation..." _

"_I don't care about doing the fucking mature thing Santana!", they don't know what surprises them the most; the full name or that curse coming out of the blonde's mouth, "I don't want to be mature if it means not being with you..."___

_Brittany hopes the girl in front of her understands what she's trying to say as she watches the tiny crease between Santana's eyebrows soften for a second. Unfortunately, it's back just as quickly.___

_"Why did you sleep with Sam then?" Santana's voice is harsh, a tone she practically never used with Brittany. Ever."Why would you go and do such a stupid thing?"___

_Brittany swallows, tears instantly welling up in her eyes. She hates how Santana deliberately used _that_ word. But more than sadness, she feels anger building up within her. She's angry, so angry that Santana keeps focussing on something so unimportant-Sam- when she should be focussing on them. On her.___

_"It didn't mean anything... We were both a bit drunk and I was feeling so lonely and..." She trails off, realizing she doesn't have any real excuses. ___

_"Bullshit."___

_"San, please... Why are you getting so mad?"___

_"Because you're mine, Brittany! And it, God, it kills me to know you've been with someone that isn't me..."___

_Brittany's eyes widen, cheeks flushing. "That's so unfair Santana! You're the one who broke up with me!"___

_The brunette takes a few steps back, taken aback by Brittany's loud voice. "I didn't want to-"___

_But the blonde has had enough and, for once, she won't back down. "Stop trying to push me away!"___

_"Then don't cheat on me!" Santana replies, both of them practically yelling at that point.___

_Brittany knows they shouldn't let this get so blown of proportions but right now, she can't control it. Nine months of questioning and confusion were bound to explode eventually.___

_"You can't have the pie... or cake, or whatever", she starts, not even noticing that she's most likely waking up everybody downstairs by now, "you can't have it and eat it too!"___

_Santana throws her arms up in the air, shouting just as loud. "I was trying to do the right thing and you go and fuck somebody else behind my back!"___

_Brittany shakes her head, unable to believe Santana is being so thick. "It didn't mean anything! And stop saying that I'm yours as if I was some kind of property because I'm not, ok? I'm not yours!"___

_Instantly, she wishes she could take those last words back; they're the biggest lie she has ever told.___

_Santana looks as if she has been slapped, unshed tears now visible in her big brown eyes. She sniffles, jaw hardening a second later. "You know what? Let me make you a favor. I'm officially breaking up with you."___

_Brittany's heart skips a beat and she feels like she's about to throw up. Or faint. Or both. Because this, right now, isn't supposed to be happening. She doesn't really know what she expected to come out of tonight but definitely not this.___

_"You and Lady Lips can now live happily ever after." Santana practically spits out, opening the bathroom's door. Brittany doesn't miss the way her voice is slightly shaking and she briefly hopes they could just start this conversation all over. But they can't and, despite herself, she still feels angry at Santana.___

_"Fine! Have fun with all the unicorns in Louisville, I don't care."___

_Santana's eyes flash with hurt and instead of replying, she storms out of the bathroom, leaving a completely distraught Brittany behind her.___

_The blonde almost runs after her but her vision has got so blurry with tears that she doubts she could even walk by now.___

_This can't be real. There's no way she just broke up with the girl she's head over heels in love with.___

_Sitting on the closed toilet seat and putting a hand in front of her mouth, she finally lets herself cry.___

_Brittany misses how somewhere between the stairs and the front door, Santana has started to crying too.__  
_

"Mommy, I think it's done."

A small hand grabs Brittany's wrist, startling her.

She was so completely lost in her memories that she had forgotten where she was; she realizes that her back is now hurting from sitting too long on the plastic chair.

She blinks quickly, plastering a smile on her face. "Thank you sweetie, I'll take care of it and then we can go home, ok?"

Her son nods, eyes closing despite his will. "Ok."

Brittany gets up, making her way to the washing machine.

She feels numb, just like every time she lets herself think about Santana. Their break-up was one of the most painful moments of her life and throughout the years, she tried to move forward instead of looking back. It has been nothing but easy.

Grabbing up the wet clothes and putting them in the dryer, Brittany closes her eyes, breathing out deeply.

_Get a grip._

"So honey", she starts, turning around to face her son, "want to show me that drawing?"

And as her son starts babbling, Brittany picks up the small piece of paper she has earlier thrown to the floor, heart winning over her heart, just like most times in her life.

**Thoughts? I really hope you enjoyed it.******

**Next chapter will come back to the present time and you'll get to witness more Brittana interaction! Woop, woop.******

**If you have time (and enjoyed the heart shaped cookies. I made them myself. Seriously.) drop a review and make me a happy, dancing woman!******

**Oh and while I think about it, if some of you are on Tumblr, let's make some tea and have a nice chat, yeah? Here's mine: somearelakes2 and then tumblr and then dot com. ****  
Follow me, I'll follow you; there's a definitive potential for awesomeness there. We shouldn't let it go to waste. Nuh-uh.**

**I wuv you all.**


	3. Chapter 3

**I'M AN AWFUL PERSON. AND AN AWFUL WRITTER. Please, slap me. Sorry for not updating in so long.**

**I've had SO many Brittana feelings since I've seen this awful promo full of Bram loving and declaration of love and fuck off, Santana makes her smile too.**

**See? I can't control myself. I feel like punching someone.**

**ANYWAY. **

**I'm sorry for taking so long to update and I hope you'll enjoy this nonetheless. And just so you know, in my world, Brittana will always be endgame. So don't you worry your pretty little minds.**

Brittany puffs out a quick breath, jogging behind her son as she mentally prays they don't miss their bus. Getting ready for Oliver's soccer match took them way too much time and now, she's dodging people on the sidewalk, probably looking like a right mess.

"Come on mommy! You're too slow!" Her son shouts over his shoulder, Brittany's eyebrows rising despite herself because seriously, she has been carrying his sport bag for the past ten minutes and this might be the reason why she's not at her full speed right now.

"I'm right behind you sweetie!"

She abruptly turns a corner, nearly bumping into an old lady with her dog, mumbling a quick excuse as she tries to keep an eye on Oliver who seems to have supernatural speed in those tiny legs of his.

"I'm too old for this."

She checks her watch, realizing they have approximately thirty seconds to make it and just as she's about to tell her son they should go for a sprint, the bus passes them by, speeding up when the driver seemingly notices that no one is waiting at the bus stop.

"Damn it." Brittany mutters between her teeth, shouting and waving in order to get the driver's attention but soon enough, Oliver and her are left panting on the sidewalk, the blonde bending over to lean on her knees. "Crap."

Since she has stopped dancing years ago, she's not as in shape as she used to be. Luckily for her, despite the lack of physical activity, her body stayed practically the same since high school, even with a pregnancy along the way.

Brittany takes a deep breath, running a hand over her forehead. "Ok sweetie, here's what-"

She stops, only now noticing that big tears are rolling down her son's cheek, bottom lip trembling.

She crouches down in front of him, grabbing both of his hands into hers.

"Why are you crying honey? Tell mommy, will you?"

He sniffles, gripping her hands tighter. "I just... I know that because we missed the bus, we're not going to get to my soccer match on time and-and, it's the final match and I really, really wanted to go..."

Brittany nods, suddenly feeling guilty for not being able to take her son to the one thing he has been talking about for almost two weeks. She wishes she had a car. Or the money for them to take a cab.

But she doesn't and she knows perfectly well that indeed, they're not going to make it on time. The soccer match is in a small city twenty minutes out of Cleveland and there's only one bus that could take them there; the next one being in an hour.

She sighs, wiping the tears off her son's cheeks, tenderly pushing up his glasses. "Look, mommy's going to do everything she can to make sure you get there on time and win that gold medal, ok?"

Oliver looks up, hope visible in his blue eyes. "Really?"

Brittany nods, not quite sure of how she's going to perform that miracle but it's Oliver we're talking about and she would do anything to make sure he's happy. "Absolutely." He grins. "Now, help mommy find a payphone."

As she gets up, the blonde mentally lists the people she could possibly call to ask for a lift.

Juliet has a date tonight so she might as well forget about her.

Her parents are in Lima.

Ms. Bennett probably has not driven since the second World War.

She could maybe call that guy she works with but he has been hitting on her lately and she wouldn't want him to get the wrong idea or something.

"Mommy, there's a payphone there!" Oliver says proudly, pointing towards the end of the street.

Brittany smiles, grabbing the sport bag from the ground. "Well done Oli."

When they get to the payphone, the blonde has resigned herself to call Brandon- the guy she works with- because the other alternative would be to disappoint her son and, well, she can't have that.

Sometimes, she wishes she could have someone in her life to rely on. Someone else she could take care of Oliver with. Because sometimes, she feels a bit overwhelmed. Sometimes, she still feels like a kid herself and she wishes she'd have someone to take care of her, too.

Brittany drops the bag again, hoping she has at least a quarter to make the call.

She checks her jeans' pocket, frowning when the only things she finds there are a penny and a crumpled piece of paper.

"Are you kidding me..."

The piece of paper escapes her hand and she lets it go, a small squeal of victory escaping her mouth when her fingers close around what appears to be a quarter.

"Mommy, who's... San...tana?" Oliver asks behind her, difficulty reading the new name.

Brittany freezes for a moment, heart skipping a beat just like every time Santana is mentioned without her expecting it.

"W-what?"

He hands her the piece of paper she has dropped not a minute ago, curiosity written all over his serious face. "It fell from your hand and I picked it up."

Brittany swallows thickly, cursing herself for keeping that damn phone number in the first place.

"Don't worry about that sweetie."

It seems like a good enough answer for Oliver because he shrugs, Brittany relieved when his attention shifts to a cat walking on the other side of the street.

Her eyes land on Santana's handwriting- for what feels like the umpteenth time this week- an idea forming in her head.

She desperately needs a ride. Santana has a car, she saw her get into one the night they saw each other. She has her phone number, maybe she could...

Brittany shakes her head, closing her eyes in frustration.

_You're not going to call Santana, you idiot._

She turns around, readying herself to announce to Oliver that they might have to cancel the whole thing but when she does, she sees her son kicking a lamppost, raising his tiny fists in victory before running in circle as if he has just scored a goal and she finds herself unable to take yet another thing away from him.

So with a deep breath, Brittany gets into the payphone, quickly composing the number written on the paper in order to not lose the small amount of courage she just managed to gather.

When it starts to ring, Brittany fights the urge she has to immediately hang up, heart beating wildly against her ribcage.

It rings six times before she wonders if she should, in fact, hang up but just as she's about to, an annoyed voice, a voice she knows all too well, finally replies.

"Santana Lopez."

"Hi, uhm..."

"Who am I speaking to?" Santana asks and just by the tone, Brittany knows she's most likely scowling, in that way that makes her eyes narrow.

"It's, uhm...", she clears her throat, willing herself to speak like a normal person, "it's Brittany. Brittany S. Pierce." She has not the slightest idea why she just said her whole name.

Brittany thinks she hears Santana let out a small breath.

"B-Brittany? I-Just wait a second, ok? Don't hang up. I'm just gonna go somewhere... quieter."

The blonde nods, realizing that if Santana was once able to know when she nodded- or smiled or cried- when they were spending their nights together on the phone back in high school, she's most likely not able to after eight years. "I'll wait."

Brittany hears the voices decrease as Santana seemingly leaves the place she was at.

"Ok, it's better now." There's a pause, and Brittany can practically hear the brunette think. "Why... are you calling me? Not that I mind or anything but..."

Brittany bites her bottom lip. "I'm so sorry for bothering you. You were obviously in the middle of something and..."

The other girl lets out a small laugh. "I'm grateful for the distraction, believe me."

Brittany checks if Oliver is still fine before bringing her attention back to the phone cord she's nervously twisting around one of her fingers. Here goes nothing. "So... the thing is, I just missed my bus and my son-"

A pause.

"You have a son?" It sounds breathless.

Brittany closes her eyes.

_Shit._

She might as well go for it.

"Yes... I do."

There's a silence after that, so long that the blonde thinks that maybe Santana has simply hung up on her.

"So, you missed your bus?"

In all the scenarios Brittany ever imagined of her telling Santana she had a son, never has she imagined the Latina taking it so... calmly.

"Well, uh, I did and well Oliver... that's my son... he has a soccer match out of town and I really don't want him to miss it but as I said, we missed the bus and there's not another one until an hour and we can't take a cab and, well, I didn't have anyone else to call..." She says the whole thing in a breath, anxiousness getting the better of her because after not talking for so many years, it feels a bit surreal to call Santana to ask her for a ride, to her son's soccer match, of all things.

"You want me to take you there, is that it?"

Brittany can't quite decipher Santana's tone this time; she thinks she sounds unsure and a bit confused too.

"That's pretty much it, yeah... Obviously, you don't have to...", she adds hastily, realizing a bit too late how ridiculous she must sound. What the hell was she thinking? "Look, forget it ok... Seriously, I shouldn't have called you..."

"I'll do it."

"And I'm probably preventing you from enjoying your night so-"

"Brittany, I'll take you there."

Santana laughs a bit through her nose and Brittany shuts her mouth, not quite sure she heard well.

"You will?"

"I will. Just give me your address and I'll be there in twenty minutes, give or take."

The blonde smiles, not quite sure why she's suddenly feeling so giddy.

"Santana, I- thank you. So much."

"You're welcome."

Brittany quickly checks her surroundings for street names, giving a thumbs-up to Oliver who starts jumping with a grin. "So, we're at the corner of Scott and Lincoln. Oh, crap, you probably don't know Cleveland very well though..."

"It's fine Brittany, I have a GPS."

"I'm so silly, of course you have. Well, I guess I'll... see you in twenty minutes?"

"Yes, see you in twenty minutes. I-I'm glad you called."

Brittany hears the other line go dead before she hangs up, only now realizing that her hands are shaking a bit.

When she gets out of the cabin, Oliver is still jumping, obviously very excited.

"Mommy, thank you, thank you!"

"You're very welcome sweetheart", she ruffles his blonde hair, "Seems like you're going to meet Santana after all."

They sit on a bench for the next fifteen minutes, Oliver playing with his soccer ball as Brittany's lost in her head, mind wandering into old memories of Santana and her.

She's not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing that Santana's about to meet her son. She's quite aware this must be a lot to take in for the brunette and frankly, this is a lot for her too.

It's not until a car stops right in front of them that she looks up, unable to control the nervous butterflies in her stomach when the passenger window goes down, Santana's face appearing behind the wheel of the black BMW.

"Hi."

"Hi." Brittany grins hesitantly, tightly grabbing Oliver's hand and his sport bag as they get off the bench. "Can I..." She gestures towards the car, suddenly feeling very awkward.

Santana nods quickly. "Yes, sure... Of course..."

The blonde opens the car door, motioning for her son to get inside. He looks a bit hesitant at first, eyes going between Santana and Brittany.

"Santana, this is Oliver my... son."

Brittany watches as Santana's eyes focus on the little boy, something that resembles sadness- or is it hurt?- briefly flashing into her brown eyes. The blonde doesn't like how she's not able to read Santana like she used to.

Quickly enough though, a smile appears on the Latina's face and she leans between the two front seats, offering a hand to Oliver.

"Nice to meet you Oliver. I'm Santana Lopez."

He looks at Brittany questioningly, the blonde grinning encouragingly. "Go ahead sweetie."

With his mother's approval, Oliver shakes Santana's hand, watching her curiously. "I'm Oliver Pierce. I love your name. Where are you from?"

The brunette chuckles. "Thank you very much. I'm from Puerto Rico."

Her son nods and knowing him, Brittany knows he has no idea where it is and is only trying to be polite.

"Ok, you all set there?"

Oliver nods, Brittany closing the door before getting into the passenger seat herself.

Instantly, she's surrounded by a strong yet feminine perfume and even though it's not the coconut smell she used to associate with Santana, it's much better. More mature. And it kinda makes her head spin a bit.

"Once again, thank you so, so much for coming. I don't know what I would have done..."

Santana shakes her head, getting back on the road. "It's fine. Plus, you saved me from yet another boring cocktail. I'm the one who should be thanking you."

Their eyes meet and Brittany is the first one to look away, eyes locking on the road in front of them.

After telling Santana what to set on the GPS, they fall into an awkward silence, both of them not knowing what to say after all that time.

Brittany can't help out but look at Santana out of the corner of her eyes, taking in her elegant trench coat and the beautiful curve of her jaw.

She feels self-conscious with those jeans and her old coat thrown over an even older green hoodie.

In order to dissipate the tension, Santana turns on her iPod, Billie Holiday instantly filling the car.

They don't talk for the rest of the way, Oliver humming in the background as both women try not to focus on the times where they would listen to those very songs in Santana's bedroom, Brittany constantly telling her that she should cover one of them in Glee club, arguing her raspy voice would give a sexy twitch to it.

Most of all though, it's on what would usually happen after it that they try not to think about.

Finally, they arrive at the soccer field, Brittany indicating to Santana where she should park.

The blonde gets out of the car, relieved to escape the tension as her son instantly asks her if he can go see his friends before the match starts.

She nods distractedly, watching as Santana gets out too, taking in her surroundings.

"Sure honey. Just make sure you come and see me before the game begins so you can put on a long sleeve under your jersey."

"But mommy-"

"No but. It's cold and I don't want you to catch something."

He sighs, Brittany bopping his nose. "Come on now, your friends are waiting."

Oliver gives her a hug before turning around, running towards a group of little boys wearing the colours of his team.

Brittany grabs the sport bag from the backseat, moving around the car in order to get closer to Santana. Now that she can see her fully, the blonde's breath catches in her throat when she notices the black pants and white shirt partially hidden by the beige trench coat the brunette is wearing along with a nice, silky blue scarf.

Santana looks so professional and in Brittany's opinion, it suits her beautifully.

"Thank you for the ride, I really appreciate it."

"No problem." Santana looks away somewhat shyly, playing with her hands. "I can give you a ride back home too, if you'd like. I mean, I took you here, I might as well take you back..."

Brittany feels like she should tell Santana that it's fine, that she should go back to her hotel and try to salvage what's left of her evening but instead, her mouth blurts out unexpected words before her brain has given its approval, "It's a kids soccer game, it's not very exciting", she makes a big show of whispering the last part, glad when Santana giggles, "but you can stay if you want to..."

She's not sure where this sudden burst of confidence came from but she finds herself hoping Santana will say yes. As she watches the brunette look up and nod with a smile, Brittany tells herself that one night with Santana doesn't mean she's back in her life. It's just going to be isolated, a random moment in their lives where they happened to meet again for a night and catch up.

Brittany smiles back, readjusting the big sport bag on her shoulder. "Great. Come with me."

She turns around, making her way towards the small, wooden bleachers on the other side of the field.

She can feel the other parents stare at Santana and her, probably wondering how such a well-dressed woman can be hanging out with poor, single mom Brittany.

Since Oliver has started to play soccer six months ago, Brittany has had to endure the silent judgements of all the other kids' parents for being so obviously different from them.

Those soccer classes were Oliver's gift for last Christmas and Brittany worked very hard- she remembers countless nights at the restaurant- to be able to offer him the best ones she could find in Cleveland.

Thing was, the other parents bringing their kids to those soccer classes were nothing like her. They were all posh, rich lawyers or whatnot from all of Cleveland's best neighborhoods, talking amongst themselves and from the first time she arrived on the field with Oliver, wearing a t-shirt and an old pair of sneakers, Brittany felt all of their eyes on her, assessing her before quickly dismissing her as being any part of their world.

It kinda hurt at first. Brittany was secretly hoping that maybe she would find there a couple of other moms to befriend but soon enough, she realized that a line had been drawn between her and the other parents the moment she set foot on that field. That they were merely tolerating her because despite his taped glasses and slightly too big shorts, Oliver was such an adorable kid.

But today, something is different. Today, the other parents are all watching Santana with a barely veiled curiosity and as Brittany looks up to see if the girl walking beside her has noticed half of the dads practically drooling, she finds Santana already staring at her, quickly looking away when their eyes meet.

Brittany clears her throat, gesturing towards the half full bleachers. "Where do you want to sit?"

Santana shrugs, slightly raising her eyebrows. "Do you have a special spot?"

"Not really..."

Actually, she does like to sit on the highest row because none of the other parents does and when she looks right in front of her, at the right angle, it feels like they're not even there.

With Santana following her, that's where they end up to sit, no one even bothering to greet her even though some of those parents' kids are on Oliver's team.

They sit close to each other, Brittany dropping the sport bag next to her with a relieved grunt.

The awkwardness is back between them and the blonde wonders if this whole thing was a good idea. Maybe they should have left it at that. Maybe she should have told Santana to leave.

Santana pushes a strand of her hair away from her forehead and Brittany knows she can feel the tension too.

"Mommy!"

She looks down, grinning when she sees Oliver standing under the bleachers.

"Hey, honey!"

"The game is about to start so can I have my long sleeve shirt now?"

The blonde nods, glad her son has listened to her. "What's the magic word first?"

She can practically hear her son sigh as she rummages through her bag, pulling out a blue shirt.

"Can I have it, _please_?"

"There you go sweetie." She drops the shirt, Oliver catching it. "Now go and score some goals!"

Her son chuckles, already running back towards his coach.

"He has your eyes."

Brittany turns her head around, having forgotten for a moment that woman right next to her.

Just like earlier in the car, Santana's eyes hold a certain sadness and the blonde wishes she'd know why. "He does."

They fall back into an uncomfortable silence, Brittany wishing more and more that she hadn't called Santana in the first place. People change in eight years and she was naive to think they would just click as they used to.

The referee blows into a whistle and instantly, twenty little boys start running around the field, parents cheering and clapping excitedly.

Brittany shivers a bit, rubbing her hands against one another as she keeps her eyes on Oliver, smiling when he gets the ball for a couple of seconds.

"How have you been?"

Santana's voice is quiet when she asks it, eyes glued to the kids running in front of her.

"Good." Brittany bites her bottom lip, not quite sure how to answer a question like that after so many years. "What about you?"

Santana shrugs, playing with the bracelet on her wrist. "Good."

Their conversation keeps dying down and the blonde wonders how Santana and her have ever been best friends. It feels like it all belongs to a completely different life.

"Remember that time Finn fell on his face during a football match and we laughed so hard that coach Sue had to kick us out of the field?"

It's so completely random that Brittany can't help but chuckle, remembering vividly how they spent the rest of the night talking and goofing around in the locker room.

When she looks up, Santana's staring at her, smiling. "I have no idea where this came from."

"That was totally out of nowhere." Brittany laughs again, shaking her head. "But yes, of course I remember."

Santana's smile seems to grow a tad bigger as she breaks their eye contact, bringing her gaze back to the field in front of them.

After that, Brittany feels like the tension between them has lessened a bit. As if acknowledging the past has helped them to get away from it and move on to this very new present.

"So, you're a lawyer now, right?"

Santana nods, letting out a small giggle when Brittany bumps their shoulders together, whistling.

"Wow, you turned out pretty well miss Lopez."

The blonde is surprised when she notices Santana's cheeks turning red under her natural tan.

"Thanks." She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear, carefully watching Brittany. "What about you? Are you in the catering business or...?"

Brittany looks away, ashamed of how little she has accomplished compared to the girl sitting next to her. "Well, technically I'm just a waitress but it sounds fancier if you put it that way..." She jokes half-heartedly, tightly smiling at nothing in particular.

"And what restaurant has the incredible chance to have you as their waitress?" Santana replies without missing a beat, tightening the scarf around her neck with a grin.

Brittany rolls her eyes playfully, grateful that Santana hasn't lost that innate ability she has to make her feel better about herself. "It's called _La Vie en Rose_, it's in downtown Cleveland."

"Then I'll make sure to stop by when I have time."

"Please do."

They stare at each other for a moment before a loud cheer from the parents sitting below them startles them both, Brittany quickly checking the field to make sure she hasn't missed her own son scoring a goal but fortunately for her, another kid did.

Still, it's Oliver's team who made the first point and she gets up with enthusiasm, fist pumping as she tries to whistle with her fingers, failing miserably.

"Go Oliver! Go Groundhogs!"

She hears a snort coming from beside her, turning her head around to find Santana sporting an incredulous smile, one of her eyebrows raised up, in that way she used to do in high school.

"Groundhogs? That's the name of their team?"

Brittany smiles back, glad that someone is finally agreeing with her on how ridiculous it sounds. "I know, don't ask."

"Out of all the ferocious animals they could have chosen, they went for groundhogs?"

They sit back down, Brittany shivering as the cold of the wood seeps in through her jeans.

"Well, do you have any better ideas?" The blonde teases, enjoying this playful banter. It's still incredibly weird to have Santana with her right now but at least now they're not so tensed.

"Let me see..." Santana smiles cheekily, looking up as if she's deep in thoughts. "Lions, sharks, panthers, snakes, lions, buffalos, alliga-"

"Ok, ok, you win." Brittany chuckles, inching closer to Santana. "Damn, you've always been so competitive."

"What can I say, I love to win."

They both laugh loudly, earning themselves a couple of stares from the other parents.

The next hour is spent in superficial talk, mostly them commenting on the game or joking around but Brittany thinks that's how much they can handle for their first talk after such a long time.

The blonde obviously can't deny Santana and hers heavy history and even though she'd like to ask her much more personal questions and really know what she has been up to, how she's doing, how's her life back in New York, she knows best and instead decides to stay on safer territories. Fortunately, it seems that Santana has made the same decision as well.

Finally, Brittany sees a muddy Oliver running towards her, a big smile adorning his sweaty face and after quickly climbing down the bleachers, she picks him up, twirling him around.

"You won honey!"

"I know! I know! I won!" He chants, locking his tiny hands behind his mother's neck.

She kisses the top of his head, an overwhelming sense of pride invading her.

"I love you sweetie."

"I love you too mom."

"Well done Oliver."

Brittany smiles at the raspy voice, giggling a bit when Santana and Oliver exchange a high five. She knows that Santana probably isn't very comfortable interacting with her son and so she finds it very sweet that the brunette is at least trying.

She grabs the big sport bag, dropping her son to the ground so he can go and say goodbye to his friends.

"You're still fine with giving us a ride?" She asks Santana, moving from one foot to another as she tries to generate a bit of warmth. "Because you really don't have to."

Santana nods, a somehow soft smile playing on her lips as she reaches to rub her hands on Brittany's arms.

"You always dress too lightly."

The blonde can practically feel the tip of her ears turn red and she looks away, Santana removing her hands so quickly it feels like she has been burned.

"Y-Yeah", she clears her throat, Brittany's eyes still fixed to the ground, "I mean yes, of course I will give you a ride."

Oliver comes back running, both women glad for the distraction as they make their way to Santana's car.

The ride back to Cleveland is silent, just like the ride before, and before Brittany knows it, they're right in front of her building and she wants to slap herself for not asking Santana to drop them off a couple of blocks away. She feels unbelievably self-conscious now that the Latina can see how miserable the neighborhood she lives in is.

"So..." Santana starts, whispering because Oliver has fallen asleep practically the second he stepped into the car.

"So..." Brittany repeats, scratching her forehead. "Thanks for the ride..."

"Oh, you're welcome..."

The awkwardness is back and Brittany honestly just wants to escape it and run inside her apartment.

But just as she's about to thank Santana again and exit the car, the brunette clears her throat, Brittany locking eyes with her.

"Your son is really sweet."

There's that flash of sadness again in Santana's eyes but there's also a sincerity that takes Brittany by surprise and she can't help but smile, words pouring out of her mouth before she can decide if they're the ones she really should be saying.

"Would you like to have dinner some time this week?"

The words hang in the air for a second, the blonde growing more and more aware of how much it sounds like she's asking Santana out on a date.

"W-What?"

"I mean", Brittany swallows, cursing her ditzy brain, "you could come over to our place and have dinner... With me and Oliver, something very... casual..."

Santana's shoulders seem to relax a bit and she grins uncertainly, seemingly surprised by the invitation. "Are you sure?"

Brittany nods as the brunette keeps smiling, pulling her phone out of her purse.

"I'm free on... Wednesday night? Is it ok with you?"

She nods again, hand already on the handle and wondering what the hell she's agreeing to. "I'll see you then."

She gets out of the car, opening the back door to pick up Oliver and his bag.

"Once again, thank you for the ride Santana."

"No problem. I'll see you on Wednesday then?"

"Absolutely."

Their gazes stay locked a second too long and they both look away awkwardly, Brittany shutting the door before she watches Santana's car disappearing, much like she did not three days ago.

Oliver sighs peacefully, head buried in the crook of her neck and she bites her bottom lip, wondering why she has just invited Santana to have dinner at her apartment.

**That was kind of a slow chapter. But those bitches need to reconnect first right? And I believe that they need a bit of time before anything happens.**

**Next chapter will be from Santana's POV! Woohoo, the crowd goes wild.**

**On another note, I'm such in a holiday mood! (Meaning, I feel like watching Love Actually while wearing sweatpants and drinking hot chocolate. Anyone in?)**

**Reviews are awesome. (So is updating faster, one would say. I hear you sister, I hear you.)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Happy belated Christmas/New Year/Valentine's day!** **I'm back from the dead! I'm like Jesus! It's a miracle!**

**Seriously though, woah, it's been so long. Too long. A big thank you to ALL of you who have been sending me messages in order to pull me out of my cave and back into the the fanfiction world. You guys are amazing- I owe you. Bottom line is: my most sincere apologies for abandoning this fic for so long. (I actually feel super guilty. Like a bad girlfriend who would have forgotten to get a gift for Valentine's day or something. Obviously, I suck at comparisons too.)**

**If you don't really remember what happened and/or are too lazy to read it again, here's the deal: Brittana meets again. Brittany has a son. They go to a soccer match together. They're akwkard. Brittany has invited Santana at her place for a casual dinner. Boom, there you go.**

**End of this seemingly never ending author's note at the bottom. Enjoy the chapter!**

It's six when Santana rushes out of the bakery, a warm baguette in her right hand as she clutches her purse with the other, cursing the wind for totally messing up her hair, quickly walking up to her car she parked a few feet away.

She was supposed to be at Brittany's apartment fifteen minutes ago but a meeting she was attending turned into a pretty heated debate and now, because she's never one to turn down a good argument, she's late.

Santana gets inside her car, carefully dropping the things she bought for Brittany on the passenger seat.

"Shit." She mumbles to herself when she realizes how unbelievably cold the steering wheel is to her bare hands and she puts on the pair of black leather gloves resting on the dashboard, glad she thought of bringing them from New York.

She sets her GPS before pulling back into the busy Cleveland streets and it's not long until she loses herself in the same pattern of thoughts that has been clouding her mind since Brittany invited her for dinner three days ago.

Brittany. Her high school Brittany.

She still can't quite grasp how much the blonde has changed. Not in a bad way, no, not at all. But to Santana, there's no denying that the Brittany she has spent a soccer match with is much more mature, much more of an adult than the one she has left in Ohio what seems life forever ago.

Santana sighs as she stops at a red light, not really knowing what to think about Brittany being back in her life. Granted, it's actually her who gave away her phone number but she wasn't really thinking when she got the first glimpse of Brittany she had had in eight years. Oddly enough, the first thought in her head had been to not let her go. Not yet. She just _had_ to know what Brittany had become in all that time.

But now, as she parks her BMW in a neighborhood in which it will probably get scratched in less than ten minutes, Santana wonders if this was a good idea.

"You can do this", she tells herself in the rear view mirror, "it's just Brittany." She rolls her eyes at this because regardless of where they are in their lives right now, it never will be _just_ Brittany.

After checking her make-up and reapplying just a hint of red lipstick, she gets out of the car, grabbing the bags on the seat next to hers.

A dog is barking in the distance as she struggles to open the building's door, ignoring the scruffy old man who whistles while passing her by on the sidewalk.

Brittany's apartment is on the second floor and she starts climbing the stairs, a bit startled when a loud crash resonates from a door to her left, followed by two people yelling.

She can't help but notice the stained walls and the persistent smell floating around the building, a mix of food and garbage that should have been thrown out a long time ago. She scrunches up her nose, burying it in her scarf.

Apartment 2D finally appears into view and Santana takes a deep breath, perfectly knowing that her heart isn't beating that fast just because she climbed a couple of stairs.

She's trying to muster up the courage to knock when the door opens in front of her, revealing a slightly out of breath Brittany.

"You're here..." The blonde smiles, sounding almost surprised and Santana blinks a couple of time, wondering if Brittany thought she was going to bail on her.

"Yes, I-... Sorry, I'm late." She replies quietly, not really knowing what to say next.

There's an awkward silence before Brittany slightly shakes her head, opening the door wider in order to let the brunette in. "Please, come in."

The second Santana does, she knows this place has nothing to do with the rest of this crappy building, starting with the sweet, vanilla scent subtly surrounding her.

"Here, let me take your coat." Brittany says behind her, Santana flashing her a grateful smile as she hands her her trench and scarf.

"Thank you."

"Mommy, who is it?"

A blonde head wearing a cowboy hat comes running through a door on Santana's right, practically bumping into her. Curious blue eyes meet hers and she smiles, Oliver smiling back shyly before hiding behind his mother's legs.

"Sweetie, you remember Santana, right? I told you she would be coming over for dinner." Brittany gently scolds her son, throwing an apologetic look towards Santana when Oliver simply nods before running back into his bedroom.

"I think someone has a crush on you." The blonde states with an amused smile and Santana chuckles, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Can you really blame him?"

It was meant as a joke but tension comes back full force when Brittany's eyes almost imperceptibly scan her body before looking away, a pink hue appearing on the blonde's cheeks.

Santana looks away too, awkwardly clearing her throat before practically forcing the baguette she's still holding into Brittany's hands, desperate for a change of topic.

"Here, I brought this to thank you for having me over."

Brittany's eyes widen when she reads the name on the package. "Santana, it's from one of the finest bakeries in town..."

She shrugs, watching how the blonde's long fingers are carefully running over the elegant golden letters.

"You shouldn't have..."

"It's my pleasure." Brittany smiles and at the back of her mind, Santana absentmindedly notices how great she looks- there's always been something about Brittany in jeans and a t-shirt.

She feels suddenly overdressed as she catches her reflection in the mirror hanging next to the wardrobe, taking in her navy blue pencil skirt, cream top and pearl earrings.

"Sorry for my outfit by the way", she feels the need to say, locking eyes with Brittany, "I came here straight from the office so..."

Brittany shoves her left hand in her back pocket, shaking her head. "Oh, don't worry. You look- I mean, you look... great."

Santana doesn't really know why her cheeks heat up at the blonde's comment but for the umpteenth time since they've met each other at that cocktail last week, their conversation dies in an uncomfortable silence.

"Let's head to the kitchen..." Brittany finally says, motioning for Santana to follow her.

They cross a tiny living room and Santana smiles fondly at the light blue walls and countless pots of flowers messily scattered all over the room, the sight bringing back to her mind those summer afternoons spent watching Brittany gardening in her backyard.

The kitchen is as minuscule as the living room but Santana thinks it screams Brittany too, with its bright red oven mits and sparkly purple magnets on the fridge, holding what Santana assumes to be Oliver's drawings and the beginning of a food shopping list, amongst other various things.

The blonde must catch Santana's eyes avidly taking in everything around her because she bites her bottom lip, looking somewhat ashamed. "I know it's not much..."

The brunette shakes her head quickly, not wanting her to think she's judging her place. On the contrary, it looks probably much more alive than her Manhattan loft ever will. "I think it looks just perfect. I couldn't have imagined your apartment with less colors and brightness."

Santana internally cringes at how lame this sounded, missing how Brittany's ears turn red before she starts making herself busy with something on the oven.

"You can take a seat if you want." Brittany says over her shoulder and Santana nods, smoothing down her skirt before sitting down at the kitchen table.

"So-"

"Tell me-"

They both start at the same time, both chuckling before Santana grins and cocks an eyebrow, letting the blonde know she can go first.

"I was just going to ask you why you're in Cleveland exactly." Santana watches as Brittany grabs something from a cupboard, dropping it in what she's cooking. "I think you said you were here for a month or so?"

The brunette hums, playing with a fork she finds on the table as she crosses her legs. "A month or so, yes. And roughly, I'm here because we're trying to open a new office in Cleveland and they've sent some of my colleagues and I to assess if it's a good idea or if we're just doomed."

Santana says the last word in an attempt at a scary voice, glad when Brittany lets out a small giggle.

"And where are you staying?"

"They've booked me a room at The Four Seasons downtown..."

Brittany turns around sporting an impressed face. "God, this place looks so fancy!"

"I guess it is.." Santana shrugs, not wanting Brittany to think she mentioned it only to show off, "Though it didn't prevent me from being woken up at three in the morning by the couple next door who seemed to be having too much...fun..."

Brittany puts a hand in front of her mouth, eyes widening. "No? For real?"

Santana shakes her head with a smile, unable to contain her own laughter when the blonde in front of her lets out a bright laugh. "And what did you do?"

"I called the front desk and asked them to find me a new room pronto." She flashes the blonde a cheeky smile, easily falling back into the sassiness that made her reputation back in high school, for the benefit of Brittany's obvious amusement, "And told them I'd go all Lima Heights on their asses if they didn't."

They both laugh loudly, and Santana feels like at last, the tension between them has been broken.

"Can I help you with anything?" Santana asks after a pause, realizing that she has been sitting there while Brittany was doing all the work.

"No, no, it's fine, stay seated." She licks a bit of sauce on her thumb, the Latina looking away when Brittany's pink tongue darts out of her mouth, "You're my guest."

"Ok then, thank-"

Santana is interrupted by the loud ringing of her phone coming from where she has left it in her coat's pocket and she gets up, sending an apologetic look Brittany's way.

"Shit, do you mind if I get that?"

The blonde smiles, gesturing towards the oven with the wooden spoon she's holding. "Go get it and I'll finish our dinner."

As Santana crosses the small living room back to where her coat is, she's well aware of the butterflies in her stomach resulting from Brittany using this word, _our._ She doesn't even know why it affects her but there has always been something exciting to her about sharing something with Brittany, even if it's just a simple dinner.

Her phone is still ringing loudly and she fishes it out of her coat, sighing when she reads one of her colleagues' name flashing on the screen. She knows he's probably calling to talk about work- again- but just as she's about to answer, the faint sound of Brittany humming comes to her from the kitchen and it's enough for her to drop the phone back in her pocket, satisfied when the ringing stops after a couple of seconds.

As she passes in front of Oliver's bedroom's open door in order to get back to the kitchen, she spots the little boy sitting on the floor, playing with two plastic horses, adorable with how concentrated he looks.

"Oliver?" Santana asks, smiling when the little boy looks up and she's once more struck by how much he has Brittany's beautiful blue eyes.

He grins back shyly, clutching the horses in his hands.

"What are you playing at? You're being a cowboy, is that it?" She points to the hat on Oliver's head, glad when his smile grows wider as he nods enthusiastically.

"Yup. Me and my horses live in the Far West."

She crouches down next to him, a bit awkwardly with her skirt and heels, but smiling when Oliver starts to babble about mean gangsters and stolen money and, oddly enough, aliens.

Santana listens to him, thinking to herself that in addition to having his mother's eyes, Oliver also apparently inherited of her wild imagination. Despite her own will, she can't help but wonder what the little boy has inherited from his father. Since she learned about Oliver's existence, the Latina has been badly wanting to know who has been granted the luck to have Brittany's child but she decided not to push it. Hopefully, the blonde will trust her enough to tell her on her own time. The last thing Santana wants is to pry into Brittany's private matters. She doesn't have the right to anymore.

She grabs one of the horses lying on the floor, pleased when Oliver immediately includes her in his game, stating she's one of the cowboys helping him fight crime.

Santana delivers her best impression of a horse, head turning to the side when she hears a small chuckle coming from her left.

Brittany's leaning on the doorway, arms crossed, an amused smile playing on her lips. "Never has a horse sounded more realistic."

"Oh, shut up." She replies playfully, immediately dropping the plastic horse on the floor.

Brittany laughs again. "I was just coming to tell you guys that dinner's ready."

"Mom, five more minutes please, I was playing with Santana!" Oliver whines, a pout already forming.

"Go wash your hands Oli. You can play later."

Santana watches as the little boy reluctantly gets up, hanging his head low as he starts making his way towards the kitchen. It's still so unbelievably weird to see Brittany with a son, in charge of this tiny human being. Brittany's a _mom_ and the brunette thinks to herself that she hasn't quite grasped this concept yet.

"Need some help?" The blonde asks, pulling Santana out of her thoughts, making her realize that she's still crouching on the floor like an idiot.

"Oh, uh, sure."

Brittany extends her hand with a grin and Santana hesitates for a fraction of second before grabbing it, the blonde gently lifting her up. The Latina notices the still defined muscles working on Brittany's arm, looking down when she realizes the first physical contact she's had with the blonde in nearly a decade is making her kind of dizzy.

She lets go of the other woman's hand, smoothing out her skirt to give herself a few more seconds to regain her composure. When she looks up, Brittany's already watching her, cheeks a bit flushed.

"Thank you for playing with him." She whispers with a grateful smile, quickly looking over her shoulder to make sure Oliver can't hear them.

Santana shrugs, willing her mind to ignore the tingling that won't disappear in her left hand. "He's a nice kid."

"I know, I know", Brittany starts, nervously tucking a strand of golden hair behind her ear, "he's just... He struggles when it comes to making friends, you know? I think the other kids find him a bit... different sometimes... His teacher called me this morning so we could arrange a meeting..."

Brittany suddenly looks much more tired to Santana than she did not a minute ago and the Latina instinctively lands a hand on Brittany's forearm, driven by a surge of protectiveness she has not felt in quite a while.

"Who cares if he's a bit different? I haven't known him for a long time and still, I can tell he's an amazingly bright little boy."

Santana notices Brittany's eyes quickly looking down towards the hand she has put on her arm before she bites her bottom lip, shaking her head.

"I just... Sometimes, I wonder if I'm not the problem here... If I'm not being, I don't know... an inadequate mother maybe..."

Santana tightens her grip on the blonde's arm, not wanting her to believe a word she's saying. And when the words start flowing out of her mouth, they come from a part of her she thought she had left in Lima a long time ago.

"I'm sure you're an amazing mother Brittany. I mean, I've watched you teach those dance classes to kids countless times when we were teenagers and even back then, I would always picture you as this great mom who would make the most sinful chocolate chip cookies and who would spend afternoons watching silly animated movies with them."

What Santana doesn't say though, it's that she would usually picture Brittany as being the mother of _their_ kids. That this little high school fantasy of hers usually also included a nice white house with red shutters and a Golden Retriever.

Brittany's cheeks turn pink as she bites her bottom lip again. "How do you still know how to make me feel instantly better?"

Santana grins, shrugging. "I guess it's just a gift I have."

"Yeah, well, gift or not, thank you for saying such nice things. And I'm so sorry for dumping this on you so randomly, it's just... the call this morning has made me very anxious and I don't know, I guess having you here just... I'm sorry."

Santana watches the blonde let out a small breath before running a hand through her hair- she had somewhat forgotten how endearing the sight of a rambling Brittany could be.

"I guess we should get back to the kitchen if we don't want our dinner to be burned."

Santana nods silently, still trying to find a small way to make Brittany feel even slightly better and as they cross the living room, she gently bumps her shoulder against the blonde's, making her look up with questioning eyes.

"What?"

The Latina bumps her shoulder again, as gently as the first time but this time, Brittany grins, narrowing her eyes.

"What?" She repeats, the word coming out almost as a giggle and Santana smiles back.

"I just wanted you to know that even if we've been back in each other's life for less than a week, I'm still there if you feel the need to talk. I'll always listen."

It's simple and Santana doesn't really know if her offering of an empathic ear still means anything to Brittany but she gets her answer when it's the blonde's turn to bump her shoulder, a beautiful smile lightening up the sad face she had been sporting for the past couple of minutes.

"Thank you."

She doesn't get time to reply because Oliver comes out of the kitchen, arms crossed.

"Mommy, what's taking you so long?"

"I'm coming sweetie. Have you washed your hands?"

Santana watches as Brittany sits Oliver on his chair, all the while half-heartedly arguing that he's getting way too big for her to do that and like it used to happen in high school, the sight of Brittany interacting with a kid- and being so amazing at it- makes so many weird flutters and twirls happen to her heart that she clears her throat, blinking a couple of times.

"Santana, wanna sit next to me?" Oliver asks with a bashful grin, turning his blue eyes towards her.

She nods, returning the smile as she tries not to chuckle when Brittany winks at her before pointing at Oliver, mouthing the word "crush".

Santana scrunches up her nose at her before focussing back on Oliver and his hopeful face. "Of course I will honey. Brittany, do you need any help?"

The blonde turns around, shaking her head with a playful smile, "Again, I'm fine. It will be ready in like three seconds."

Santana sits next to Oliver, the little boy instantly proceeding to tell her all about the bird his teacher bought for their class and the way he keeps pushing his glasses up is so cute that she finds herself grinning fondly without even realizing it.

"There you go." Brittany says after a moment, bending over them to put three plates filled with pastas on the table, a whiff of soap and lavender washing over Santana.

The blonde sits in front of Oliver and her on the other side of the table, bringing the now sliced bread along with a dish of olive oil.

"Thank you for inviting me over." The Latina says, noticing with a small grin that Brittany has already cut Oliver's pastas.

"We're glad to have you, aren't we, Oli?"

Oliver nods, managing a smile through a mouthful of pastas. "Yes, I'm happy you're here too."

"Oliver Pierce, swallow your food before you talk, please."

Santana looks up, surprised to witness a side of Brittany she has hardly ever seen before.

The blonde seems to understand the questioning look on Santana's face because she giggles, grabbing a slice of bread.

"That's my stern-mom character. She comes out once in a while."

Santana lets out a throaty laugh and Brittany can't help but join in, obviously glad she elicited that kind of reaction from the Latina.

The laughter dies down and they're left staring at each other, Santana all of a sudden realizing that after eight years of trying not to think too much about her, she's casually having dinner at Brittany's place, Brittany all of a sudden realizing that after eight years of avoiding even mentioning her, Santana is having dinner at her place.

The blonde breaks their staring contest, looking down at her plate. "Please, dig in."

Santana looks down too, wondering how they could have possibly gone back to awkward so rapidly.

The next minutes are spent in a relative silence, filled here and there by the sound of forks clinking on the plates and horns from the street below.

The pastas are absolutely delicious and Santana finally lets out a small, appreciative moan. "Gosh, Brittany, this tastes incredible!"

Brittany grins bashfully, tucking one of her legs under her. "Thank you."

"There's a taste I can't quite recognize though..." Santana continues, knowing she loves it but unable to pinpoint what it is exactly.

"It's coriander..." Brittany says, blue eyes meeting curious brown ones. "This was one of the things you used to put in everything when we were cooking together back in Lima so... I figured I could make an exception and include it in my sauce for tonight."

It's a small gesture, really, but for an unknown reason, this feels like so much more for Santana. She hardly remembers how it feels like to have someone know those insignificant little things about you.

"Thanks for thinking about it." She replies softly, Brittany grinning. "And for the record, I didn't put coriander in everything." She air quotes the last word and the blonde chuckles, Oliver watching them with a smile and sauce all over his face.

"I beg to differ."

Santana plays shocked, hand on her heart, mouth opened. "That is not true Miss Pierce."

"I seem to remember I even gave you a bouquet of coriander once, Miss Lopez. Attached with a little ribbon and everything. I also seem to remember that you loved it."

The Latina giggles. "I had completely forgotten about that."

"Are you saying I won the argument?" The blonde asks, smirking over her glass of water.

Santana shakes her head. "Never."

"Mom, what's coriander?" Oliver chips in, interrupting their playful banter and both women turn to look at him, Brittany getting up in order to get a wet cloth to wipe his face.

The rest of the dinner is mostly spent listening to Oliver adorably ramble about how he likes school, or about how he likes marshmallows, or about how he would one day like to be able to fly.

The atmosphere has gone back to a light one and as Santana listens to Oliver, she can't help but let her eyes drift towards Brittany once in a while. It's a wonder how she still manages to be so pretty, even in the unflattering light of the kitchen.

Bedtime arrives quickly and as Brittany leaves with Oliver to put him to bed, Santana gets up, starting to bring the dirty dishes back to the counter. She finds a blue plastic tub under the sink, filling it with hot water and soap as she waits for the blonde to come back.

Santana leans her back against the counter, crossing her arms in front of her. She has enjoyed her night, that is undeniable, but on the other hand, where is this even going? What is the point of even trying to become friends with Brittany again if she's due to go back to New York in less than a month? Is this really worth it?

The Latina pinches the bridge of her nose, kind of hating right now the tendency she has to overanalyze pretty much everything in her life. She sighs, settling with only seeing this as a dinner with an old friend. They're catching up. It's all good.

It's the moment Brittany chooses to come back to the kitchen, humming a song unknown to Santana and the Latina clears her throat, a grin making its way to her lips without her even noticing it.

"He fell asleep surprisingly fast considering the amount of pastas he ate." Brittany says, picking up the glasses from the table, bringing them next to the plates Santana has already stacked up neatly next to the sink. "And he insisted on making me tell you he says good night and hopes he'll see you real soon."

Santana's heart melts, her grin growing even wider. "He's adorable."

"He is." Brittany smiles back before grabbing a couple of Tupperwares in one of the cupboards, filling them up with the leftovers. "Would you like some tea? Coffee?"

Santana tucks a strand of brown hair behind her ear, shaking her head no. "I'm good, thank you. I think I'll just help you clean out and then I should get back to my hotel. I have an early meeting tomorrow so..."

The Latina wonders if she hasn't seen a fleeting flash of disappointment in Brittany's eyes but she has most likely imagined it because she finds a grin on the blonde's face not a second later.

"You don't have to help me, I can handle this just fine."

Santana grabs a cloth that's hanging next to the fridge before walking next to Brittany, standing in front of the sink.

"You made me a great dinner, it's the least I can do."

"Ok then, if you insist. I certainly won't say no to a bit of company."

Brittany puts on a pair of plastic gloves, Santana grinning to herself when she notices the small hearts adorning them.

"Nice gloves."

Brittany raises an eyebrow, probably assessing if Santana is being serious or not and the Latina raises both of her hands in a playful gesture of innocence.

"I swear, I think they're pretty cute."

"Well, you better." She points a menacing finger towards Santana's face, letting her know she's joking when she lets out a giggle. "It was Oliver's gift for Valentine's day this year. I brought him to a one dollar shop and followed him from afar as he was trying to find something to get me. Took him two hours."

Santana lets out a laugh at the last sentence, grabbing the clean plate Brittany is handing her before starting to dry it.

"Two hours? But eh, you got those heart gloves out of it so I'd say it was worth it."

Brittany strikes a pose with the gloves, getting a bit of soapy water in her hair and without really thinking about what her hand is doing, Santana reaches out to gently wipe it away, the intimacy of the gesture catching up to her a bit too late.

A couple of soap bubbles float between them, gracefully falling to the floor before either one of them has uttered a word.

An ambulance's siren wails somewhere in the distance and Santana, this time, is the first one to look away, deciding on playing it as if what she just did didn't change back the mood to unbelievably awkward.

"Come on Pierce, you're slowing down." She shakes the cloth in front of Brittany's face, blue eyes locking eyes with hers once more before a smile appears on her face.

"You'll regret saying that, Lopez."

They finish washing the dishes, settling on comments and small talk about how surprisingly cold Cleveland is for this time of the year and soon enough, there's nothing left to do for Santana except leaving.

Brittany walks with her towards the hallway, leaning against the doorway as Santana puts on her coat and her scarf, biting her thumb in a way that's so familiar to the Latina.

It's weird, she thinks to herself as she fishes her leather gloves out of her Vuitton purse, knowing so many little things about someone and yet feeling like you absolutely don't know them at all anymore.

"Thanks for accepting my invitation." Brittany starts, burying her hands in her jeans' pockets in a somewhat bashful way. "And it was nice seeing you again, Santana, it really was. I'm glad you're doing so good."

Santana smiles softly, noticing how Brittany's hair has become a shade darker on the spot she got water on earlier. "Thanks for having me. Dinner was delicious."

"It's my pleasure." The blonde bites her bottom lip, blue eyes boring into Santana's. "This might seem like an odd thing to say but... I'm very proud of you. I always knew you'd go far and you totally did."

Santana knows Brittany most likely can't see that but she feels her cheeks flushing, so much they feel like they're on fire and for a moment, she doesn't really know what to say, not used to receive such raw, honest compliments like the one Brittany so easily handed to her. But then again, the blonde has always been more comfortable with those kinds of things than Santana ever was.

"Thank you... I mean, I'm not quite sure how proud of me you should be but-" She rambles, almost relieved when Brittany interrupts her gently.

"I can see you still haven't learn to take a compliment. Take this one though, I mean it."

"Thank you then."

They both smile.

Santana checks her watch before looking back up, finding Brittany back to lying on the doorway.

"I guess I should go or else I will be a zombie at work tomorrow."

"I would actually hire a zombie lawyer."

Santana grins, raising one of her perfectly sculpted eyebrows. "Why am I not surprised? Ok, I should really go now."

She takes the few steps left to the door, all the while wondering if she should hug Brittany, or kiss her on the cheek, or maybe just do nothing at all but as she turns around, finally settling for nothing, Brittany decides for them both and gives her a quick hug. It's over before it has even begun, really, but Santana's heart flutters when a warm hand settles for a second on the small of her back.

"Be safe when you drive back." Brittany nearly whispers, a strand of blonde hair falling across her forehead.

"I will." Santana replies just as quietly, opening the door. "And thank you again for having me."

They wave once before the door finally closes on Brittany's face and Santana finds herself back in the weird smelling hallway, a somewhat familiar hollowness settling in her chest.

She shakes it off though, not wanting to dwell too much on it, instead making her way down the stairs as she checks her phone only to find she has gotten several calls and emails.

The door to exit the building seems to be broken and it takes a good shove to open it, Santana taking a deep breath of fresh air as she finally succeeds.

She starts the walk back to her car, heels clicking on the sidewalk as she pulls her scarf tighter around her neck.

As much as she tries to focus on her meeting tomorrow, the thoughts in her head are demanding her full attention.

She has to come to terms with the fact that Brittany is now officially back in her life but surprisingly enough, the thought doesn't scare her as much as she used to imagine it would.

Instead, she thinks to herself as she looks up at the barely visible stars, she just feels like smiling.

And she does.

**Next chapter: a lot more of interaction between those two crazy kids is waiting for you. Intrigued? Come back to me next time! Woot woot.**

**I really hope this was at least a tad readable, I really do. As I said before, I'm taking my time for them to reconnect properly and most of all, believably.**

**Two last things: first, I would obviously love some reviews on this one but if not, you'll still get your Valentine's chocolates. And second, here's my Tumblr, if you ever feel compelled to follow me. I run a music blog and I'm very friendly so feel free to drop by and say hi. (Or yo, if you're a lady with an attitude.) : musiccangetyoupregnant dot tumblr dot com**

**LOVE!**


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